By Alex Paul
Linn County Communications
Linn County Commissioners Roger Nyquist, Sherrie Sprenger and Will Tucker on Dec. 23 heard from Linn County Juvenile Department Director Torri Lynn that juvenile work crews completed more than 600 hours of community service projects in November.
Lynn said 15 youths on the Tier 1 work crew (informal probation) completed 218.5 hours of community service over 12 project days. During November 2024, six young people completed 58.5 hours of service.
He said 20 youths on the Tier 2 work crew (higher risk assessment) completed 390.25 hours of service over 15 project days. In November 2024, some 29 young people completed 637.25 hours of service.
After the meeting, Lynn said work crews do a variety of projects, working closely with the Bureau of Land Management and the Oregon Department of Forestry.
“The Juvenile Department pays particular attention to separating youth based upon their level of risk and age, making sure each youth is able to safely be supervised on any particular project,” Lynn said. “The first priority is safety of the youth and staff, followed by job skill development and project completion.”
Lynn told the commissioners, there were 47 referrals in November and referrals have not returned to pre-Covid 19 numbers. There are 183 youths in the Probation Unit, either on probation or pending court with 32 of them assessed as high-risk. There are 126 youths under the Community Programs Unit serving on informal probation and the Intervention Specialist is serving 194 youth. Of those, 186 youth are from the community with no involvement with law enforcement.
In November, 11 youths from Linn County — two females and nine males — were held for 69 days of care. Their average length of stay was 5.75 days.
Six youth from Benton County — all males — were held for 84 total days. Their average length of stay was 14 days.
Three youths from Lincoln County — all males — were held for 46 days. Average length of stay was 15.33 days.
The average daily population was 6.63 youths and an average length of stay of 9.48 days.
Three youths completed 60.25 hours of service with the Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Program.
In other business over the past two meetings, the commissioners on Dec. 30 addressed a number of end-of-the-year housekeeping items:
- Elected Nyquist as chairman of the board and Commissioner Tucker as vice-chairman for 2026.
- Approved the Albany Democrat-Herald and The New Era (Sweet Home and Lebanon) as official newspapers of record for publication of legal notices.
- Appointed Matt Pitcher as the Linn County Tax Collector.
- Approved a two-year extension of a four-year contract with Crabtree Automotive to provide maintenance for Linn County Sheriff’s Office vehicles.
- Appointed John E. “Trè” Kennedy III of Lebanon and Danielle Myers of Brownsville as Justices of the Peace pro tempore for District 4A.
- Held a second reading of an ordinance designating the Lyons Rural Fire Protection District to provide service for Linn County Ambulance Service Area Code 7. The Idanha-Detroit Rural Fire Protection District had previously covered that service area, but discontinued ambulance service in 2016. The ordinance will take effect on March 30, 2026.
- Approved a code text amendment to allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in the Urban Growth Area — Rural Residential zoning district and the Rural Residential zoning district.
- Adjourned the Board of Commissioners meeting and convened a meeting of the 4-H and Extension Service District governing board. Tucker was elected chair and Sprenger was elected vice-chair for 2026.
During their Dec. 23 meeting, commissioners also:
- Updated a contract with the law firm of Sussman Shank LLP, for litigation services in the Western States Land Reliance Trust v. Linn County lawsuit, which will be reviewed on appeal by the Oregon Supreme Court. The contract is not to exceed $175,000.
- Approved a letter of proxy allowing Tucker to vote for the Board of Commissioners at the Association of O & C Counties annual meeting.